European Union

North Macedonia's minister of foreign affairs Bujar Osmani says Nato's presence - and regional maturity - means conflict remains unlikely in the event of Bosnia and Herzegovina's possible break-up.

A last-minute attempt by the Dutch government to scrap the country's dividend tax and keep Royal Dutch Shell in the Netherlands failed. The UK is the one of a few countries in Europe that does not levy a dividend tax.

In a joint letter, five European Parliament groups - from centre-right to far-left - called on EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen to defend EU law and take all necessary measures.

A group of civil society organisations has urged EU commissioners to withdraw their participation from a top event organised in partnership with one of the world's largest cigarette companies.

People in Bishop Auckland who voted for Brexit are like the French who idolise Éric Zemmour because he blames France's misfortunes on Muslims, or like the Dutch who support Thierry Baudet, whose far-right party organises paramilitary training in plain view.

The death at the age of 56 of the leader of the successor social democratic party in Greece has opened up the possibility of a return to top table politics for George Papandreou

On Wednesday, Parliament’s delegation, joined by idea givers from the European Youth Event, will discuss five topics from the European Citizens’ Panels.

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

On Wednesday, Parliament’s delegation, joined by idea givers from the European Youth Event, will discuss five topics from the European Citizens’ Panels.

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the President of the European Parliament has established a number of measures to contain the spread of the virus and to safeguard Parliament's core activities. The current precautionary measures do not affect work on legislative priorities.

Core activities are maintained to ensure the smooth running of the institution's legislative, budgetary, and scrutiny functions.

The next meeting of the Subcommittee on Security and Defence (SEDE) will take place on 29 and 30 November 2021.

The meeting agenda and documents will be published here.

SEDE meetings' calendar 2021
EP calendar 2021
Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

Parliament want to better protect Europeans and businesses against growing cyber threats. Learn more in our interview with MEP Bart Groothuis.

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

Parliament want to better protect Europeans and businesses against growing cyber threats. Learn more in our interview with MEP Bart Groothuis.

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

Governor of Cloverhill Prison and Others
External relations
The provisions in the Withdrawal Agreement concerning the European arrest warrant regime with respect to the United Kingdom and the provision in the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the EU and the United Kingdom concerning the new surrender mechanism are binding on Ireland

Commission v Hungary
Area of Freedom, Security and Justice
By criminalising organising activities in relation to the initiation of a procedure for international protection by persons not fulfilling the national criteria for granting that protection, Hungary infringed EU law.

Prokuratura Rejonowa w Mińsku Mazowieckim
Area of Freedom, Security and Justice
EU law precludes the regime in force in Poland which permits the Minister for Justice to second judges to higher criminal courts; secondments which that minister - who is also the Public Prosecutor General - may terminate at any time without stating reasons

The European Parliament urges the EU to lead global efforts against tax evasion, tax avoidance and money laundering.

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

Russian travellers are flocking to Croatia to get jabs of EU-approved vaccines, according to Reuters. "Just this month we've had about 1,000 Russians who received vaccines. So far we have had altogether 4,908 foreign citizens here, most of whom are Russians," the head of Zagreb's biggest vaccination centre said. "Demand is not just big, it's avalanche-like and growing exponentially," an employee of Russian travel agency Russian Express also said.

A French court began hearing an appeal by former prime minister François Fillon against a conviction in a corruption scandal that torpedoed his presidential ambitions and sealed the rise of Emmanuel Macron, France24 writes. Fillon, a conservative candidate in the presidential elections in 2017, was charged with corruption after revelations that his wife Penelope was paid over €800,000 over 15 years for a suspected fake job as a parliamentary assistant.

The EU has said Russia was complicit in Belarus' attack on Polish borders, while warning Russian president Vladimir Putin not to also strike Ukraine.

Belgium's government is bringing forward a meeting to decide on tighter measures to control the spread of Covid-19, amid a rapid increase in infections and hospital admissions, The Guardian writes. The meeting, originally set for Friday, was brought forward to Wednesday so that any measure approved midweek could be operational by the weekend, the government said this morning. Hospital admissions are up 30 percent on a weekly basis.

The European Environment Agency on Monday revealed that 307,000 people died prematurely due to air pollution in the EU in 2019. These deaths are concretely related to the exposure of fine particulate matter, coming from emission sources like road transport, industrial processes or agriculture. At least 58 percent, or 178,000, of these deaths could have been avoided, if all member states had applied international air quality standards, it said.